St George Illawarra Dragons player Jack de Belin has been hit with fresh charges over his alleged joint rape of a woman at a Wollongong unit block last December.
De Belin will face Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday on not one but three rape charges after police quietly laid two additional counts of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent against the star forward earlier this month.
Charge sheets reveal the additional charges relate to the same alleged victim. It it understood they relate to individual acts alleged to have been committed by de Belin during the same sexual encounter that gave rise to the original charge.
Each of the three charges includes the description that de Belin was "in the company of another person" while the alleged offence was committed.
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Police will allege the second person involved was Shellharbour Sharks Group 7 player Callan Sinclair.
Sinclair is not facing any additional charges.
Police documents previously tendered in court revealed the two players stand accused of repeatedly raping the woman inside de Belin's cousin's apartment on Gipps Street in the early hours of December 9.
De Belin allegedly began having sex with the woman before inviting Sinclair to participate, saying "come on, have a go", as the woman lay on the bed, crying.
The two men were charged in December and first fronted court in February, when both entered pleas of not guilty.
Wednesday's court appearance is expected to include a brief mention of both cases before a further adjournment of four weeks to ready the matters for committal.
Last month, the Federal Court ruled in favour of the NRL's stance in introducing a no-fault stand-down rule for players facing serious criminal charges.
Illawarra Mercury